October 4, 1991: Jim Thome’s first career home run pushes Cleveland past Yankees

Jim Thome had been in the major leagues with the Cleveland Indians for only a month, but he already understood the power of a baseball superstition.

That was evidenced by his actions before he stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with the chance to be the hero in an otherwise low-stakes game at Yankee Stadium on October 4, 1991.

“The last eight times [Indians pitcher] Greg Swindell has touched my bat, I’ve gotten a hit,” Thome said. “Before I hit in the ninth, I went running up the tunnel and into the clubhouse and had Swindell touch my bat again.

“After the game, Greg said, ‘Stick with me kid, and you’ll go places.’”1

That’s because Swindell’s magic did not produce any old hit this time, it unlocked Thome’s first career home run – a mammoth two-run shot off New York’s right-handed closer Steve Farr that landed in the first row of the barren upper deck and made the difference in Cleveland’s 3-2 victory in front of a modest Friday night crowd of 14,627.2

Thome, who had debuted a month earlier, on September 4, after only 41 games at Triple A,3 stepped to the plate with two outs, fellow rookie Reggie Jefferson on first base, and the Indians trailing by a run – seemingly on their way to another loss in one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

But Thome, a 21-year-old lefty wearing number 6 on his back,4 gripped a teammate’s bat blessed by Swindell and patiently watched for a fastball.5 Farr’s 1-and-0 pitch cut across the inside third of the plate, and Thome walloped it deep to right field for the first of an eventual 612 home runs that helped him earn first-ballot Hall of Fame induction in 2018.6

“If it wasn’t me, it would have been the next guy,” Farr recalled years later, acknowledging that he didn’t specifically remember the historic moment.7 “But I’m thrilled to be associated with him. He’s one of those ‘gamer’ guys. You never heard an arrogant word out of his mouth. He was someone who always talked nice about everybody. … You like to see guys like that succeed.”8

Farr, who had made his major-league debut with the Indians in 1984 and was later a teammate of Thome’s during part of the 1994 season,9 came into the game with a career-high 23 saves. Thome’s home run spoiled Farr’s streak of 12 straight scoreless outings that dated to August 28.

After another rookie, Ed Taubensee, flied out on Farr’s next pitch to end the inning, Cleveland’s submarining closer Steve Olin retired three hitters on 10 pitches in the bottom of the ninth for his 17th save10 and Cleveland’s first win in Yankee Stadium in more than a year.11

The Yankees ended their four-game winning streak and fell to 70-90 as they played out the string on a third straight losing season for the first time since the 1960s.12 The Indians avoided extending the franchise record for most losses in a season, instead moving to 56-104 after the surprising comeback.13

“It’s good to be on the other end of one of those games,” said Indians manager Mike Hargrove, whose team improved to a paltry 4-88 in games in which they trailed after eight innings, “and it’s good to see Jim Thome do it.”14

Cleveland and New York both opened the final series of the season with a starting pitcher who usually relieved – Alan Mills for the Yankees and Shawn Hillegas for the Indians. Both starters worked into the sixth inning and neither ran into too much trouble.

Hillegas, making his third straight start after coming out of Cleveland’s bullpen 48 times, found a spot of trouble in the third. Steve Sax’s comebacker ricocheted off Hillegas’s body for an infield single, and Don Mattingly followed with his first home run since September 12 to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

The Indians got a run back in the fifth against the 24-year-old Mills – making just his second career start after 40 relief appearances in 1990 and 1991. Mike Aldrete walked on four pitches to open the inning and Thome and Taubensee singled to load the bases. Wayne Kirby flied out to deep right-center, giving Aldrete time to cross the plate, but on the next pitch, Alex Cole grounded into a double play, leaving New York still ahead, 2-1.

Hillegas got two quick outs in the sixth, but Matt Nokes singled and Torey Lovullo doubled to end what had become the 27-year-old lefty’s longest outing of the season.15 Eric Bell, a southpaw who had made his season debut on September 9, struck out the left-handed Kevin Maas in a seven-pitch at-bat to end the threat. He pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings and thwarted another New York rally to set up Thome’s late-game theatrics.

After a one-two-three seventh, Bell surrendered back-to-back singles to Mattingly and Roberto Kelly to open the eighth. He got two outs when Hensley Meulens grounded into a double play, and with Mattingly at third base, he picked up another big strikeout of a left-handed hitter – getting Nokes to watch strike three pass him by.

To open the ninth, Cleveland rookie Mark Whiten struck out against lefty Lee Guetterman, who had come in with two outs in the sixth inning, and Jefferson followed with a single. Yankees manager Stump Merrill replaced Guetterman with Farr, who got the switch-hitting Jerry Browne to fly out to center before Thome unleashed the game-deciding home run.16 Farr fell to 5-5 with the loss.

Thome’s home run set up Bell with his fourth victory in his final appearance of the season. Formerly with the Baltimore Orioles, Bell had not pitched in the majors since 1987, but in 10 relief outings for the Indians, he allowed only one earned run in 18 innings of work. Left-handed hitters went 1-for-22 against him.17

As for Thome, he had gone 10-for-18 in five October starts after going through an offensive drought. In his last eight appearances in September, Thome had one hit in 25 at-bats and saw his average drop from .239 to .169.

That Thome had not homered in his first 24 games had not surprised Cleveland’s management and coaches. Since the Indians had selected him as a 13th-round draft pick in 1989, he had piled up only 23 home runs in 247 minor-league games. He had mostly impressed as a contact hitter with power potential, posting a .307 batting average and strong plate discipline with 128 walks.18

“He’s going to be an outstanding player in a couple of years,” said Charlie Manuel, Thome’s longtime mentor who was then the manager of Cleveland’s Triple-A club, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. “He’s really strong. Right now he’s hitting a lot of balls to left field with an inside-out swing because he locks his right hip.

“But he can hit the ball a long way when he turns on it.”19

So, would hitting a major-league home run mark the dawn of a new era for the youngster?

“It’s really hard to say,” Hargrove said. “I think right now, at this stage of his career, Thome can hit 10 to 15 homers a year. As he develops and becomes stronger – he turned 21 just a few weeks ago – he might become a 15- to 25-homer guy.”20

Recalled Thome’s father, Chuck: “I told my wife, Joyce, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if he hit 50 homers in his career?’”21

Thome – who said he was “basically a line-drive hitter” and thought he could “hit 20 to 25 homers” a season22 – eventually became a regular in Cleveland’s lineup in 1994. He landed right on his prediction with 20 home runs in 98 games and added 25 more the next season, when he helped lead the Indians to their first pennant since 1954.

Over the next 13 seasons, however, he averaged 37 home runs per season and became one of the most respected sluggers in the majors.23

And while many of his franchise-record 337 homers with the Indians stand out in his memory, his first one holds a special place.

“That was a dream,” Thome said. “It was Yankee Stadium; I mean, it wouldn’t have mattered where it was, but that it was there, and you were a rookie, all that.

“You always remember that.”24

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Jim Thome, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com, and Retrosheet.org websites for pertinent statistics and the box scores. He also used information obtained from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal, New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News and The Sporting News, and watched a video of Thome’s home run from MLB.com (https://www.mlb.com/video/jim-thome-s-first-home-run).

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA199110040.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1991/B10040NYA1991.htm

Notes

1 Paul Hoynes, “Thome Rallies Indians,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 5, 1991: 1-D.

2 Because of the sparse crowd, a stadium employee was able to retrieve the ball and have it returned to Thome in Cleveland’s clubhouse. The attendance was the lowest for a Friday game at Yankee Stadium since August 29, 1975, when only 11,345 came to see the Yankees win in 10 innings against the Kansas City Royals.

3 Thome was one of eight players to appear at third base for Cleveland in 1991. Carlos Baerga opened the season as Cleveland’s starter, but he shifted to second base to replace the demoted Mark Lewis in late July. Rookie Jeff Manto took a turn at the hot corner but struggled offensively and defensively throughout most of August. Jerry Browne took over at third on August 24, but after he sprained his ankle on September 1, the Indians promoted Thome. Brook Jacoby, a longtime third baseman who had moved to first in 1991, also played 15 games at third before he was traded to the Oakland Athletics on July 26. Others to appear at third for Cleveland in 1991 were Tony Perezchica (3 games), José Escobar (1 game), and Luis Lopez (1 game)

4 Thome wore number 59 in his debut then switched to number 6. He began wearing number 25 in 1992 and stuck with it until he retired in 2012.

5 Joel Skinner, Cleveland’s veteran catcher who had unknowingly played in his final major-league game about two weeks earlier, gave Thome the bat he used to hit his home run. “In those days, rookies didn’t get very many bats, and I was getting low,” Thome recalled. “I had broken a bat that day, and Joel came over and said, ‘Hey, kid, use this one.’” Phil Miller, “Twins’ Class AAA Manager Had a Role in Jim Thome’s Hall of Fame Journey,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 29, 2018, https://www.startribune.com/twins-class-aaa-manager-had-a-role-in-jim-thome-s-hall-of-fame-journey/489454711.

6 Thome appeared on 389 of 422 ballots for 89.8 percent of the vote. He joined Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Alan Trammell, and Jack Morris in the 2018 Hall of Fame class.

7 After the game, a frustrated Farr had little to say about the home run: “I have no excuses,” Farr said. “It was a bad pitch.” Jon Heyman, “Budgeting Bonilla,” New York Daily News, October 5, 1991: 91.

8 Brian Murphy, “For Former Yankees Pitcher, Jim Thome’s First Home Run in 1991 Was One to Forget,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 11, 2015, https://www.twincities.com/2011/08/05/for-former-yankees-pitcher-jim-thomes-first-home-run-in-1991-was-one-to-forget/.

9 The Pittsburgh Pirates originally signed Farr as an amateur free agent in 1976, and the Indians acquired him in a trade in 1983. He went 3-11 in a mixture of starts and relief outings as a rookie in 1984, but Cleveland released him before the 1985 season. Farr eventually settled into a relief role with the Kansas City Royals and became New York’s closer after signing with the Yankees for 1991. He re-signed with Cleveland in 1994, but the Indians traded him to the Boston Red Sox on July 1. By the time Farr was traded, Thome had become Cleveland’s primary third baseman.

10 Olin began the 1991 season as a set-up man for the Indians and was demoted to Triple-A Colorado Springs in May. He became the closer for the Sky Sox, and shortly after he was recalled in mid-July, he took over the closer’s role. Doug Jones, who had 43 saves in 1990, began the season as Cleveland’s closer, but he lost the job after a disastrous May (three blown saves and an 11.64 ERA). Shawn Hillegas took over as the closer in May, but he allowed too many home runs (5) and walks (21) in the 20 games he pitched between May 20 and July 18. Olin handled closing duties for the rest of 1991 and throughout 1992 (29 saves), but he died in a spring-training boating accident on March 22, 1993.

11 The Indians last won in New York on September 20, 1990, in a makeup of an April game delayed because of a brief players strike that pushed back the start of the season.

12 The Yankees had last had three straight losing seasons when they endured sub-.500 years from 1965 to 1967. Before that, they had four straight losing campaigns from 1912 to 1915. They also had three losing seasons in a row from 1907 to 1909. New York had another losing season in 1992, but by finishing 1993 with a winning record, the Yankees began a streak of winning seasons they have maintained through at least 2024.

13 Cleveland beat the Yankees the next day but lost the season finale to finish 57-105. Cleveland had previously lost 102 games three times – in 1914, 1971, and 1985. Based on winning percentage, the 1914 season (51-102, .333) is the worst in franchise history, while 1991 (.352) is the second worst (as of 2024).

14 Hoynes.

15 Hillegas, who came to Cleveland in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox, had averaged 5.93 walks per nine innings as a reliever, but in three late-season starts, he walked only one batter in 14⅔ innings. “He got in a rut with his mechanics and starting has helped him get back on track,” Hargrove said. “I don’t want to say that he definitely won’t start next year, but he’ll probably be back in the bullpen. He pitched very well for five innings and just ran out of gas.” Ultimately, the Indians placed Hillegas on waivers in April 1992, and he was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays. Sheldon Ocker, “Tribe’s Swindell Touches Thome’s Bat – And It Is Healed,” Akron Beacon Journal, October 5, 1991: B1.

16 An anonymous player cited this pitching change as an example of why Merrill was not cut out to be managing. A common school of conventional baseball wisdom would have suggested that the left-handed Guetterman stay in to face the switch-hitting Browne so he could then face the left-handed Thome. “[Steve Sax] turns to [Merrill] and says, ‘Hey, Stump. Isn’t Browne a switch hitter?’ So Stump says, ‘Nah, he’s a right-handed hitter; look, he’s taking his helmet off and going into the dugout.’ Saxie says to him, ‘Yeah, Stump, he’s going to put on a batting helmet with a different flap so he can bat left-handed,’” the player told the New York Daily News. “Well, Stump had already called for Farr, who ends up giving up a homer to Thome and loses the game. That’s what the whole season was about. He didn’t have a clue.” After the season, the Yankees fired Merrill, who had compiled a 120-155 record since taking over managerial duties from the fired Bucky Dent on June 6, 1990. Michael Kay, “Stump Root of Woes,” New York Daily News, October 8, 1991: 63.

17 Bell could not extend his streak of success into 1992. After making Cleveland’s Opening Day roster, he posted a 7.63 ERA in seven appearances (one start and six relief efforts) over the first month of the season. He spent the rest of the year in Triple A and made the final 10 appearances of his major-league career with the Houston Astros in 1993.

18 Thome earned the organization’s Lou Boudreau Award in 1990 as the minor-league offensive player of the year. Between the rookie league Burlington (North Carolina) Indians and Class A Kinston (North Carolina) Indians, the 19-year-old hit .340 with a .466 on-base percentage, 16 home runs, 50 runs, 50 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases in 67 games. He added 12 minor-league home runs in 1991 and first showed signs of consistent power with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights in 1993, when he slugged 25 home runs and drove in 102 runs in 115 games before getting promoted to the major leagues for good.

19 Paul Hoynes, “Thome Expected to Get Call,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 4, 1991: 3-E.

20 Sheldon Ocker, “Tribe’s Swindell Touches Thome’s Bat – And It Is Healed.”

21 Kirk Wessler, “Thome: ‘I’ve Been Blessed’” Peoria (Illinois) Journal Star, August 17, 2011, https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/2011/08/17/thome-i-ve-been-blessed/42278254007/.

22 Hoynes, “Thome Rallies Indians.”

23 Outside of the 2005 season, when Thome hit seven home runs in only 59 games because of injury, he averaged 40 homers in the other 12 seasons from 1996 to 2008. He hit 40 or more homers in half of those years, including a career high and Cleveland franchise record 52 in 2002 – the final year of his first tenure with the Indians.

24 Murphy.